Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
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John Hollenhorst and Randall Jeppsen Reporting The wintry weather combined with speed led to a series of accidents in Provo Canyon. Provo Canyon is one of several canyons drivers need to be cautious about this time of year.
Maybe the advice is obvious. But if it is, why do cops have to keep saying it? "Slow down when conditions get bad!" And yet in this canyon and three others, dozens of drivers every year learn an expensive lesson.
In Provo Canyon, they were slip slidin' away...and they played automobile billiards.
Dena Morgan, driver: "and I spun, hit the guard rail."
Jim Webb, Driver: "I just pointed it at the side of the road and put it in the snow bank rather than run into anybody."
Cars wound up in the ditch. And on flatbeds. And on the other end of a tow-chain.
One man was injured; nobody knows how many cars were damaged because some didn't even stop.
Matt Miller, Highway Patrol Officer: "We had I believe seven crashes within about two to three miles of here and they all occurred at about the same time."
Provo Canyon has the worst winter-weather accident rate, but three other canyons are pretty bad too.
Little Cottonwood averages nearly a dozen significant crashes each winter. Big Cottonwood averages 16. In Sardine Canyon it's almost three dozen. But Provo Canyon has well over 4 dozen significant accidents each winter.
Nile Easton, UDOT: "It's got a higher rate of speed than a lot of the other canyons. And it's got geography. Its s got canyon walls that go up both sides. That's because that road stays in the shade a lot. And when we have shade we have a lot of ice."
U.D.O.T spreads more than 100 tons of salt in Provo Canyon after every storm. But melting is less effective in the shade.
Nile Easton: "Where that water that's been melting hits those spots, it immediately freezes up. So you have black ice that forms every single day in certain spots on that road."
Matt miller, UHP Trooper: "the first thing you need to do is slow down. There's no such thing as too slow on these roads."
Dena Morgan, driver: "I was going really slowly. Because I knew it was icy. But it was even too icy for 30 miles an hour. "
Matt Miller: "Thirty's too fast. If you can't maintain control of your vehicle at 30 miles an hour, that's too fast. "
This canyon has flashing sings that warn when the highway is icing up. By next winter UDOT officials hope to put similar signs in Provo Canyon. But they're not sure how much good it will do: the icing signs will be lit almost every winter day.
